Friar Manoel Calado between Catholics and Calvinists: religious intolerances in Dutch colonial territories in 17th century (1630-1654)

Abstract

Friar Manoel Calado, popularly known as Friar Manoel dos Óculos, had a unique performance in the context of Dutch domination in the sugar captaincies of Portuguese America. Pursued by Bishop D. Pedro da Silva e Sampaio, it was the friar’s contacts with the Dutch, and not exactly his missionary practice, but his friendship with the governor Conde de Nassau, that raised the suspicions of the Bahia’ Bishop, former Portuguese Inquisitor. The aim of the present article is to investigate the contacts of this friar who is well known for his role as a chronicler in the context of Dutch Brazil and managed to escape the inquisitorial nets, through the analysis of the accusations recorded in the Prosecutor’s Notebook of Lisbon Inquisition. The research ends up revealing the confusing modus operandi of this court, articulated through the action of the Bishop of the diocese. The article begins with a brief historiographical discussion about the characterization of the Dutch Brazil as a time of freedom or religious intolerance; it advances on the analysis of the sources that indicate how this friar became suspect among Catholic and he was persecuted among Calvinists; and it concludes by demonstrating the importance of this religious’s missionary practice for the maintenance of Catholicism in that region.